Crews: Athletic Far East x BRidgeRunners x Private Road Runners Club 1936
What does ‘BTG' mean to me? It was a couple of years ago when I first heard the term, and as I started to learn more about a community of runners from around the world, my understanding of the concept grew into something bigger than I could have ever imagined. I was not much of a runner when I first started out, and I wasn't (and still aren't), at all, as deep in the culture as most of the people I continued to meet were, but I learned quickly that ‘BTG' is a movement. You see, the first time I heard the term '#Bridgethegap' was during a BBQ I was documenting as a freelance contract. I knew absolutely nothing about what the BBQ was for or who was throwing it. My job was just to come in and document the event, but while walking around, I could just feel the energy & the bond that everyone shared. Love, support, kindness, competition, joy, excitement, accomplishment, community, and positivity all floated in the air.
Later that day, I learned the BBQ was actually a 10 year anniversary party for a certain running crew called "BRidgeRunners." There were attendees visiting from cities all over the world like Copenhagen, Toronto, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles to name a few.
Since then, I've come to realize that BTG or Bridging the Gap is the process of building a very special community between runners who bond over the love of the run. It means that anywhere you are in the world, you'll have a crew to run with where runners come together to celebrate community and keep it growing strong.
Running and getting to know the crews from NY has been an amazing experience so far. Sometimes, I've gotten lucky and had the opportunity to run with runners visiting from different parts of the globe. There's no question: this is a movement I was happy to have run into.
And although my understanding of BTG has grown since I started running with NY crews, it wasn't until I visited Tokyo that I actually witnessed the power of bridging the gap firsthand. It was in Tokyo that I was welcomed by Athletic Far East (AFE, a running crew based in the city), and bridged the gap between a NY based running crew and a Tokyo based running crew. It was through the efforts of Power Malu from BRidgeRunners that I was able to connect with Emi Shino from AFE. Emi graciously arranged a special Saturday run for me and invited friends from Seoul's Private Road Running Club 1936 (or simply PRRC1936). During the run, I also met runners from Amsterdam who connected with AFE and PRRC1936 through the Bridge the Gap worldwide initiative.
Our run started off in Ginza (a neighborhood in Tokyo), and we travelled on open highways, over bridges, through the fish market, and through places I would have never seen if it wasn't for the route. We ran 10k, and I experienced Tokyo in a way that I couldn't have without this unique connection. And on the other side of the globe, I felt the same love, support, kindness, competition, joy, excitement, accomplishment, community, and positivity that I felt at the BRirdgeRunners BBQ 2 years ago.
That's when I felt it for the first time - BTG. It was the feeling that you get when you run somewhere else in the world, when you're somewhere you've never ran before, but in spite of that, you still have a crew to run with. You still have a crew to show you a good time. No matter where you are, you're part of a community that knows no boundaries and accepts you as a part of it. To me, that's what BTG means. It may be expressed differently by others, and each experience will be our own, but the feeling remains the same - it's that feeling of belonging.
-Raymond Eugenio
